Drug Addiction Twitter Talk

Thanks to Twitter, rumors or misunderstandings about a topic as serious as drug use or death can spread like wildfire before there’s even time to confirm it.

The advent of Twitter has made it easier than ever for rumors to get started. They can be particularly dangerous when the news is about drug addiction or overdose.

Twitter Spreading Death Rumors

When Johnson & Johnson heir Casey Johnson died earlier this week, many found out via a “tweet” from Johnson’s fiancée, Tila Tequila. “Everyone please pray 4 my wifey Casey Johnson,” Tequila tweeted on Jan. 4, adding, “She has passed away. Thank u for all ur love and support but I will be offline to be w family.” Tequila then confused her followers by posting a few hours later that Johnson wasn’t dead, but instead in a coma. News reports later that day confirmed Johnson had indeed passed away.

As speculation began about what killed the seemingly healthy 30-year-old, a childhood friend of Paris Hilton and a regular on the party scene, celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson took to Twitter to communicate the following: “RIP Casey Johnson.” She followed that up with, “Am so sick of those 3 letters, so tired of losing friends to something as senseless as a drug overdose. WAKE UP people. Drugs will kill you.”

That second post had some wondering if Ronson knew something the coroner hadn’t yet concluded (Johnson’s initial cause of death had been ruled “natural causes” while the wait was on for toxicology reports, but no foul play is suspected). But within an hour Ronson was tweeting again, this time responding to a question and clarifying her earlier remark, saying, “no – most likely from diabetes, but my second comment was based on the 6 friends i lost last year.”

Johnson was diagnosed with childhood diabetes, but it will be weeks before the toxicology reports allow for a final determination. Meanwhile, Hilton also turned to Twitter to offer her condolences and mourn her late friend and Tequila continued to post about her loss.

Drug Addiction Rehab

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